Reese Witherspoon spoke out about her arrest for the first time on Good Morning America on May 2, 2013Credit: Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic

Reese Witherspoon is ready to face the music. The Oscar-winning actress is finally speaking out about her shocking April 19 arrest for disorderly conduct in Atlanta -- in which the star, 37, threw a fit at a police officer who pulled over her husband, Jim Toth for suspected DUI. Although she quickly released a written statement shortly after news broke of the bust, the Mud actress has otherwise remained mum on the mortifying incident.

Addressing the scuffle in a TV interview on Good Morning America on Thursday, May 2, Witherspoon reveals that the encounter -- in which she told the cop, "Do you know my name?" -- was even more outrageous than fans know.

"I saw [the cop] arresting my husband and I literally panicked," Witherspoon explained. "I told him I was pregnant. I'm not pregnant. I said all kinds of crazy things," revealed the star, who gave birth to son Tennessee last September.

Walking back through the fateful night, Witherspoon said, "We went out to dinner in Atlanta and we had one too many glasses of wine." The star was in Atlanta with her CAA agent hubby, 42, as she shot the film The Good Lie. "We thought we were fine to drive and we absolutely were not . . .We know better and we shouldn't have done that."

The so-called America's Sweetheart famously sassed the police officer who pulled them over and asked Toth to perform a sobriety test.

"I was so disrespectful to him," Witherspoon admitted. "I have police officers in my family. I work with police officers every day. I know better. It's just unacceptable."

The star added that she spoke with Atlanta authorities again earlier this week. "Yesterday I spoke to them and again just said, 'There is no reason to be disrespectful to a police officer.' Again, I just panicked."

The worst part? Explaining the arrest to her older kids with ex Ryan Phillippe, Ava, 13, an Deacon, 8. "We have to say when you make a mistake you take responsibility and we are taking responsibility and doing everything in our power to make it right."

Joked the Legally Blonde superstar: "I played a lawyer in a movie so many times I think I am a lawyer. . .And clearly I'm not a lawyer because I got arrested."